


A Shine Will Do

by asilentherald



Series: A Shine Will Do [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Prostitution, Sex Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 15:40:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3734287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asilentherald/pseuds/asilentherald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur Pendragon was on his way to his father's manor, on his way to a rather hopeless future, when he met a shoeshine boy with a stand in an alley and quite a (lovely) mouth on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Shine Will Do

Arthur’s shoes looked abysmal. He’d miscalculated the filth and mud on the streets when he’d chosen to walk to his father’s manor on the other side of town instead of taking a carriage. He paused in a quiet square off the beaten path, steps away from the manor, and lifted one leg to inspect the damage. His fresh leather glove would become filthy too if he attempted to clean the shoes off.

“Need a shine?”

He looked up. On the other side of the empty square he saw a young man – a boy, really – leaning against a wall. His breeches were tattered, his vest clearly stained with dark grease, but the way his arms looked crossed over his chest, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, drew Arthur to him. He could see his face as he took a few curious steps closer. He was all cheekbones and angled jawlines, his eyes deep blue and widely set, his full rosy lips poised in a playful grin. Arthur almost couldn’t stop staring at them.

“What’ll it be, mate?” he asked, pushing off the wall. He brushed some dirt off his sleeve and took a swaggering step toward Arthur.

“We’re not mates,” he blurted coldly. “A shine will do, yes.”

“Sure, then. Come on.”

“Where?”

“My stand’s down there,” he said nodding at the narrow street winding away from the square. Arthur followed at a distance until he saw the broken down shoe shine station propped up against the wall. There was a rag and a nearly empty tin of grease. He breathed a little more easily and climbed up into the nearest seat.

It was dark in the alley. Arthur could hardly see the boy’s face when he dropped to his knees between Arthur’s legs and started scrubbing away the dirt from his leather shoes.

“You one of them rich prats from the manors down the way?” he asked, as though it was completely normal conversation starter.

“You can’t talk to customers like that.”

“So it’s true then,” he said, throwing Arthur an impish grin. He dug his rag into the tin of grease. There clearly wasn’t much left. Arthur watched, mesmerized as he twisted and spread the rag before setting to diligent work on his shoes, the boy’s brow furrowed, his tongue caught between his teeth in deep concentration.

“I’m not a prat,” Arthur heard himself say after a while.

“Sure, mate.”

“What’s your name?”

“Merlin.”

“Like a falcon?” he asked dubiously.

“My father used to breed hunting birds for the Pendragons,” Merlin said, not looking up from Arthur’s right shoe. Arthur felt the sudden urge to reach out and touch his shining black hair. He looked incredibly clean for a street urchin.

“The Pendragons?” he asked belatedly.

“You know ‘em. Own the whole damn town, got the ear of the king?”

“Yeah,” Arthur said, feeling a little ill when he remembered just what awaited him upon his arrival at the manor. “What happened to your father?”

He never recalled anyone breeding their falcons, even in childhood.

“Killed. I never knew him,” said Merlin. He sat back on his heels and looked up at Arthur, his eyes bright and heavy with old anger. He shook his head and turned to the left shoe.

“What about the rest of your family?” Arthur asked.

“Why, good sir, does my life story matter to you?” he said, sneering lightly.

“I’m making conversation,” Arthur shrugged. “You’re hardly in a position to question me.”

“Not at all,” Merlin snorted, glancing at Arthur’s open legs. Arthur felt his whole body flush. “My mum died last spring. The cold of winter never left her lungs.”

“And… this is your livelihood?”

“On some days,” Merlin said. He bent low and vigorously worked at a scuffmark Arthur’s servants had never managed to get out.

“I can’t imagine it pays so well.”

“It doesn’t, but I’m finding ways to make my way in the world,” Merlin said. He reached for the grease tin and tossed it aside. The metal hitting the cobblestones rang loudly in the empty alley. Merlin spit into the rag on his hand and set back to work.

“What ways?” Arthur asked, his throat going dry as he watched Merlin work, his head bent low and his shoulders hunched. He caught a glimpse of bruises on his neck where his thin gray scarf slid away.

“Easy ways,” Merlin said cryptically. He leaned away from Arthur’s shoe in favor of kneeling at full height, letting his hands, dirty as they were, rest on Arthur’s parted thighs just above his knees. He thumbed at the inseam as he moved his hands a little further up. “You interested?”

“No! No. I can’t. I’m to meet a suitor—”

“A woman? You don’t seem all that excited,” Merlin noted. He flashed him an irritating, knowing smile. “Most men I’ve met want a bit of easy release, but they still like to chase a woman down.”

“Perhaps I don’t, then,” Arthur said. He’d sworn he wouldn’t admit it again, not after his father had seen him and forced the truth out of him with a pistol at his head. He’d forced a vow out, too, a vow to do as he said or risk losing everything. But Merlin drew it out of him like a simple sigh.

Merlin looked curious, but there was something sad in his eyes. Almost like pity, but not quite. Understanding, maybe.

“I’ll make it good for you,” he said. “Something to hold onto before you go to your lady love.”

Arthur chuckled dryly.

“I can tell you want it,” Merlin went on. He reached for Arthur’s coat and pushed the folds apart, revealing a prominent bulge in the front of his breeches. His face burned with furious embarrassment, but Merlin looked at him like he’d given him something beautiful or a rare fruit. “Let me.”

Arthur looked down at him, his hands high on his spread legs, fingers twitching. His eyes were dark and his lips red and parted, so eager and ready. He thought of the woman waiting for him, of the long and dead life ahead of him beginning the moment he would enter his father’s manor.

“Be quick,” Arthur whispered.

“If that’s what you wish,” Merlin said.

Arthur shut his eyes, dropped his head back against the wall, and let Merlin’s warm mouth swallow him whole. The moment Merlin’s soft lips wrapped his cock, every trouble and fear fell away. He gripped the armrests of the chair tightly and tried not to let his hips take free reign and buck into Merlin’s throat. It was overwhelming. He swirled his tongue and _sucked_ , then pressed the tip to the slit at the end of his cock before flattening it out and sliding it slowly along his length, taking him in deeper and deeper, a moan from the back of Merlin’s throat taking the air right out of his lungs.

Arthur gasped loudly, a whimper shaped like _Merlin_ tight on his tongue. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. The only contact he’d had with men were sloppy kisses, hands groping erections through the safety of breeches in the backs of discreet bars and drug dens. He’d never felt a mouth on his prick; he never thought he would. His eyes stung and he shut them more tightly.

Merlin sucked hard, dragging his slightly chapped but spit-covered lips along his cock until he held just the head in his mouth. He felt cool air again and then Merlin’s hand, still slick with spit and grease, cupped his balls in his hands. He pressed a finger further back, to the skin Arthur had only recently discovered to be incredibly sensitive. Arthur couldn’t help bucking into Merlin’s mouth at even the lightest touch there. Merlin, the bloody saint, took him in all the way and looked absolutely pleased about it.

“Fuck,” Arthur breathed, drinking in the sight before him. He wanted to memorize it, immortalize it, never let it leave his mind again. Merlin was right – he would take this with him into his new life of marriage. He would hold it close to his heart and remember that pleasure with another was possible, even if it couldn’t be with his wife. He would do well by her, but now – now he wasn’t tied to anyone.

His eyes were fixed on Merlin’s head bobbing back and forth, the spit dribbling out of his mouth. Arthur wiped it away without thinking. Merlin’s rhythm stuttered and he looked up at him, his eyes still dark and a little unfocused, but now a little surprised. Arthur brushed a thumb along the unforgiving ridge of his cheekbone and let his fingers follow the smooth flow of his hair, tangling in his gently curling locks. Merlin sucked _hard_. Arthur’s hips jerked forward and he thrust into his mouth twice before he could stop himself. Merlin made a little sound and looked up at him, imploring. He pulled off, leaving Arthur cold and gasping.

“You can fuck my mouth if you want,” he said, his voice hoarse and low. Arthur gripped the base of his cock tightly to keep from coming right then and there.

“If you’ll permit it.”

“You’re too polite to be a proper john,” Merlin muttered. He had a soft look about him now, pleased and almost unbelieving. Arthur felt naked under his gaze.

Merlin took him in his mouth again and guided Arthur forward in the chair, placing his hands on his head again. He gave Arthur one look before sucking and humming low and strong.

He didn’t hold back. He knew Merlin wanted him to let go, so Arthur gave him just that. He fucked into his mouth, the heat tight and impossibly good after only his hand for comfort night after night. Arthur’s mouth fell open the deeper he went, his rhythm growing increasingly erratic with every thrust. He tried holding back for Merlin’s sake but Merlin always did something – a slight suck, a twist of his clever tongue – to drive him wild again.

He came after he hit the back of Merlin’s throat and his whole world jolted on contact. He swallowed it all up deftly, hungrily. Merlin pulled off slowly, his lips making his over-sensitized cock sing. Arthur’s heart rate came down slowly. He looked up at the gray sky filtering into the narrow alley. Merlin stood upright slowly, shakily.

“Did you—?” Arthur asked, glancing down at him. His breeches were stained on the front. Merlin smiled and shrugged.

“How did I do, then?” Merlin asked. “Up to your exacting standards?”

“And beyond,” Arthur sighed. “God almighty, I can’t – I can’t imagine a woman could be so incredible.”

“They have mouths, too.”

“I know,” Arthur said, feeling snappish all of a sudden. He tucked himself back into his breeches and stood up. His legs wavered for a few moments.

“I take it I won’t see you again?” Merlin asked. Something in his voice made Arthur pause.

“You won’t,” Arthur said. Merlin looked at him oddly. He’d been bold and forward from the moment he’d called out to him, but suddenly Merlin was hesitant.

“May I ask one thing of you, then? Before you leave.”

“What is it?”

“A kiss. Just – I wish to remember you, too. Going forward. To make things easier,” Merlin said, his voice falling, as though he feared someone might hear.

Arthur hooked a gentle hand around Merlin’s neck and led him close to him until he could smell the sweat on his body. Merlin leaned in and kissed him chastely. Upon contact Arthur’s body relaxed and his lips opened for him and his tongue. Merlin pulled him closer with a grimy hand on his clean black overcoat, his tongue dipping eagerly into his mouth. Arthur kissed back with softness and desperation in equal parts. This he could do. This he knew. This he realized he wanted more than anything else.

He refused to forget the kiss either, once they parted and Arthur forced himself to walk to the end of the alley with straight back and a straight face. He looked back over his shoulder at Merlin, who was leaning against his broken down shoe shine station, holding Arthur’s money loosely in his hand. His hair stuck up and his face was flushed, even in the poor lighting between buildings. He gave Arthur a little wave.

Arthur nodded, let a half smile show on his face, and walked away.


End file.
